The role of peace education in countering violent extremism in Pakistan: an assessment of non-governmental efforts

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article is located in the wider discourse on the nexus of policy, research and practice of peace education for countering violent extremism (CVE) with a focus on learnings and insights from non-governmental initiatives in Pakistan. It presents an analysis of how the diverse and complex school education system in Pakistan ‘does’ and/or ‘does not’ respond to the challenges of an increasing scale and manifestations of violence, conflict and extremism in society. Moving beyond the discussion on the historical emergence, drivers, actors and characteristics of violent extremism in Pakistan, this paper engages with the erstwhile literature on the research-policy-practice nexus to examine nine peace education projects – mostly foreign-funded – in Pakistan. Considering the insights from these nine projects, the paper finds that there are several examples of successful stand-alone peace education for CVE projects but without a link to policy and research. Despite producing good quality CVE and peace education material, and applying these materials successfully in the diverse education setting of the country, many projects lacked sustainability due to over-dependence on foreign funding. Due to comparatively consistent external funding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the organisations there are more successful in their peace education interventions than the ones in Punjab and Sindh.